Long ago, well 2007, there was this game called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and in this game there was a land called Multi-player. In this land of Multi-player you were able to control your character and level this character up in rank. Once you had achieved your highest level of rank you could then and only then make the choice to Prestige or not.

Prestige at that time meant that you were willing to sacrifice all the time you had previously invested in reaching that maximum level of rank and exchange your rank for a new emblem. This emblem would signify to all those that saw it that you were willing to sacrifice your previous levels, unlocks, challenges completed, in order to start all over again. The more you did it the higher Prestige emblem you would receive. At the time you could do this 10 times and receive a Gold Navy Cross as your final emblem.

At the time, Prestige meant that you really had to sacrifice something for almost nothing in return. This made it a grind and a real pain for a lot of people. It was an unlock that could only be reached if you actually put in the time. It was like finding the negative world for the first time on Super Mario Brothers. Alas, now its just the norm. There's nothing difficult about reaching max Prestige anymore you just have to put in the time. Before, it was kind of a symbol that you obviously had some experience playing the game. That you actually went from Level 1 to Level 55 ten times. It didn't mean you were very good or bad, it just showed that you had experience and sometimes it gave you an edge when you got into a lobby. Now, with the Prestige glitch, and the fact that you don't really have to sacrifice anything except for the first 4 levels it's really just another emblem.

Please don't get it all twisted...I completely understand it's a video game and not a real life accomplishment...LOL!!!

How many remember what it was like when you reached that final Prestige and it meant something?

I hit it for the first time in MW2....then everyone hacked everything and the game turned to BS. Then I did it next in MW3, then I did it when they added 5 more, then I quit at 18 when they added another 5. Then I did it in BOP2, then everyone else glitched or boosted. I've never gained any respect, in fact I actually get less of it. Either I play the game too much, or I'm a hacker/glitcher.

I feel like when you reach max prestige in any of the cod's including this one, you separate yourself from the rest of the COD community. Even the guys jocking to get to the final prestige you still are already there a top them all. Currently i'm one of the guys jocking for Prestige Master. And even though the glitchers dropped the value of being a Prestige Master by a bunch, i will still feel like I accomplished something grand once I get there.

Yeah, it does to an extent. Anybody who acts like skill is, or isn't, measured by prestige lacks a level of maturity. This includes people who see a master prestige and call him out for one reason or another. I've hit max level in every game. Doesn't mean I'm better than anyone or that I even THINK I am. Nor does it mean I play too much or whatever other unprovoked nonsense some jackass comes into a lobby spewing . But it still gives that extra sense of accomplishment. Which, to anyone who HAS the afformentioned level of maturity, is the whole point.

2 people have the same time played, same SPM, same KDR ... same everything

Person A decided to hit the prestige button

Person B did not

Neither one is better than the other... prestige means nothing

You can look at it the other way.

Person A:Doesn't prestige, because I got everything I want to be a beast at play,and with the basic stuff people beat the sh1t out of me.And look at the time it takes for me to unlock the useful stuff again.

Person B:Does prestige,because I find it challenging and besides I got skills, throw me on the battlefield with just a combat knife and even then I will beat the sh1t out of other players, I will unlock useful stuff and reach level 55 in no time.

I am sure we have all seen a 55/0 beat the snot out of a PM. As well, we have seen the reverse. Some people decide to prestige for their own reasons, and it has nothing to do with skill... it is just a choice and means nothing.

When I got the navy cross in MW, I was happy, excited, and relieved. It was my first console game (was a PC gamer before with Doom/Quake/etc). I sucked badly during the first few prestiges in an effort to learn the new controller and figure out how to adjust to the new arena. When I was in lobbies and I saw max level players in those days, it was pretty much fact that they were better than average players - until late in the game's cycle anyway.

Now, after going through the years, prestige is basically just a relief to me as I see it as a completion of my effort. I see max level players now and they are just a dime a dozen for whatever reason. I think the games are dumbed down a bit and have made it too easy to reach max level. Thus, very little separation in player level based upon prestige rank. Make the prestiges harder, and they would be worth something. Sadly, today, they are not.

I believe what InstantOG was saying was what I have been discussing and that is that to Prestige and reach the maximum Prestige level actually used to mean something. Not just to one's self but to the players that used to populate the game lobbies. There was indeed a time when a party of Gold Crosses would enter a lobby and other teams were intimidated and left.

What I believe he was saying about how "anyone Max prestige has no life, sucks and is a hacker" was in reference to the current perception of PM based on the number of glitchers and the way people act in the lobbies when a PM enters it.

I don't get this thread acting all misty eyed for the prestiges of yore because it is just the same. They just added a few extra perks for doing so as the feature has developed.

I don't know how long you've been playing Call of Duty but I will have to assume that either you didn't Prestige or play COD 4 Modern Warfare. The reason being is had you have played that game you might understand the differences between Prestige then and now. Back then you didn't get any Perks or Tokens. It was a reset of all challenges and levels. The only thing that didn't reset were your stats. It was a real grind not like how it is today. Today, all you have to is really just play. There is no real sacrifice or challenge.

There actually was a time that when 4 or 5 Gold Crosses entered a lobby and people would just back out because they knew that these guy's were hardcore gamers not the 10 year old glitchers of today.

Whether or not you care or don't care about stats or Prestige, my point in this discussion was to highlight that there is a big difference from how it used to be perceived and how it is currently.

Prestige now a days is mostly only for the more hardcore and dedicated COD players. Prestige never had anything to do with skill, respect, honor, esteem, recognition, prominence, distinction or importance, except maybe COD4, when COD really had the most dedicated players.

In fact I have noticed, especially in the last two games (BO I, MW3) and even more in this year’s title BO II, that if you are a top prestige, people tend to hate, claim that you have “no life” or falsely accuse you of being a hacker, glitcher or cheater. Obviously with the PM glitch it would make sense that people are feeling this way more in BO II, but the rhyme and reason is still the same, they are jealous and create excuses on why they are not at top prestige.

Only reason I ever prestiged was to get more Create-a-Class slots. My friend and I play on the same account, so this way we both get 5 loadouts each. I am a much better player then he, but neither of us cares about stats. We rank up, complete challenges and try to have fun, which has become increasingly difficult with each "new" yearly incarnation of COD. I could care less what some prepubescent punk or even an older punk, has to say about my stats or rank. The Mute button is everyone’s friend.

This is the first COD game I played. MW3 came with my PS3, but I bought it for the blue ray and net flix capabilities. I have no experience with the old prestige system.

The only reason I want to be a MP is so I can have everthing unlocked. I was going to stop at at 5, after I got all the custom classes, but I want to have everything unlocked so I can grind out the gun challenges. I play with a couple of really good prestige masters and a couple OK ones. I think by the time you put in 6-10 days into a video game you are pretty solid at it. They either get called hackers or glitchers, or people just leave our lobby. These guys just like to play COD, they are pretty good, not the best, but pretty good.

What ruined the prestiging system is that for the past two games you have been have to keep things permanently unlocked. Almost everyone picked the best weapons and perks, so they always had their best gun. This had ruined the system because the whole point to prestiging was sacrificing everything to reach max prestige. Back in the other games you didn't get a create a class every prestige you got one every couple of prestiges. I didn't play COD4 online, because I didn't have my PS3 online when it came out, but I believe you got nothing.

Going through the grind of not having your favorite perks and weapons and having to try out everything is why max prestige players got respect. Now there are these garbage kids that glitch to master prestige and get owned. Was playing last night and there was this little kid who did the prestige glitch and got reset. Easy to tell because he was a level 11 no prestige with 5 days played. He couldn't even maintain a .5 kdr, but he was playing on a 4+ kdr on a boosted account that he copied.

Reaching max prestige just requires time, but it also takes skill when it comes down to time played. I have multiple friends who got to master prestige in 5 days. The players that take 10 days to reach master prestige are just not good. They have around a 1 kdr and a terrible spm and think someone cheated because they got there faster. I have seen multiple players in the last couple of days with 20+ days played and one of them had a .9 kdr how can you be so bad. This is why people say it only takes time.

From a cod vet with around 140 days in multiplayer, not including campaign and zombies.

Forgive me if I'm off point or off topic I briefly scanned your discussion, but my opinion is max prestige meant nothing after call of duty 4: modern warfare (2004) it's now 2013 it's been 9 years and no change to the core gameplay of course the vast majority are beast even if your level 33 and not even prestige 1 odds on you are still one of the best cod players in the lobby. Prestige means nothing just keeps gameplay fresh for a while (something to achieve)

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was released in November 2007. Not quite sure where 2004 came from. You were mistaken when you stated that Prestige meant nothing. When indeed, there was a time when Prestige did mean something. In MW I remember many a time when my buddies and I would enter a lobby (at least 4 of us had Gold Crosses) and the other people would just back out intimidated. Now, I understand that this was Console Online Multi-player in it's infancy and the overall community was made up of a bunch of Noobs (like myself at the time). But, at the same time those that actually did try to Prestige at the time and quit after the first one understood the pain and could almost appreciate the fact that someone actually did it 10 times. Whereas, today it's not all that difficult and the motivations are a lot different.

Prestige used to mean something when it was actually difficult(ish) to hit max prestige. Now it's filled with rewards and permanent unlocks. Hitting 2nd prestige is no different now than hitting lvl 2 from lvl 1.

What is to much time? I am a MP, I have a full time white collar job (code for boring office job but good money), I have 2 teenage kids, a lovely wife whom I've been married to for over 18 years. I have been able to reach max prestige on every COD game since MW. I have been able to do this because of the time of year the game is released. The area of the country I live in has crappy weather during the winter months. So to pass the time while the weather sucks I play online and shoot the bull with my old Army buddies. When spring comes around I resume my golfing and fishing schedule. I don't have to much time on my hands but the extra time that I do have I choose to use it to playing online with my buddies.

I truly believe that leveling in MW2 was more difficult then it is now. I have not prestiged in this title due to the amount of Zombies I've played but I got into the 50's only playing a couple of days on release week. Haven't played since then and really couldn't care too. I'm sure to jump on and try out the new MP maps sometime but killing Zombies is just so much more fun with a lot less of the frustration of dying by an 8 year old.

Im a gammer who only prestiged in black ops 1, once only, because the grind was brutal to get all of my pro perks back especially in black ops 1 and mw3 to get my shotguns back up to gold. Mw2 loved the game to death but I was not going to prestige for an extra cac. For black ops 2, it made it more friendly to prestige knowing that there really was a penalty for prestiging. I like the new system of going all the way to prestige master since the grind is not so brutal. The only mark I see as an "experienced" gammer is getting diamond for obscure and hard to get guns/launchers.

Sure - that´s why it becomes harder to find a lobby while playing as a team made of legit PM´s...?!

I´ve just made my PM yesterday (after 8 days and 17 hours) - and I can tell you that now it´s becoming even more difficult to get a match started or finished without people leaving during the lobby or even during the match...

We´ve made a 87 to 7 victory in DOM last night - two of us swept away the whole enemy-team twice...

We won a match 4 against 8 (strange lobby making ;o)) on Turbine also - because we do have

a) some experience

b) some skill (not camping/sniping)

...

Everyone in my Clan does more than 300 SPM in DOM (mine is actually 403 SPM) - and no one of us ever boosted, glitched or cheated.

But it is also true that PM does not mean "you are good"! But it might be the fact you are...

Took me about 15 days played to finally hit max in MW. Only took me 5 days in bo2. Granted, I'm a little better, but still, the term "master prestige" has just been wittled down to nothing more than a sign of how much you play, not how well you play